#474 – DHH: Future of Programming, AI, Ruby on Rails, Productivity & Parenting

David Heinemeier Hansson (aka DHH) is a legendary programmer, creator of Ruby on Rails, co-owner & CTO of 37signals that created Basecamp, HEY, & ONCE, and is a NYT-best-selling author (with Jason Fried) of 4 books: REWORK, REMOTE, Getting Real, and It Doesn’t Have To Be Crazy At Work. He is also a race car driver, including a class-winning performance at the 24 hour Le Mans race.
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Transcript:
lexfridman.com

CONTACT LEX:
Feedback – give feedback to Lex: lexfridman.com
AMA – submit questions, videos or call-in: lexfridman.com
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EPISODE LINKS:
DHH’s X: x.com
DHH’s Website: dhh.dk
Ruby on Rails: rubyonrails.org
37signals: 37signals.com

DHH’s books:
Rework: amzn.to
Remote: amzn.to
It Doesn’t Have to Be Crazy at Work: amzn.to
Getting Real: amzn.to

SPONSORS:
To support this podcast, check out our sponsors & get discounts:
UPLIFT Desk: Standing desks and office ergonomics.
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Lindy: No-code AI agent builder.
Go to go.lindy.ai
LMNT: Zero-sugar electrolyte drink mix.
Go to drinkLMNT.com
Shopify: Sell stuff online.
Go to shopify.com
NetSuite: Business management software.
Go to netsuite.com

OUTLINE:
(00:00) – Introduction
(00:58) – Sponsors, Comments, and Reflections
(08:48) – Programming – early days
(26:13) – JavaScript
(36:32) – Google Chrome and DOJ
(44:19) – Ruby programming language
(51:30) – Beautiful code
(1:09:31) – Metaprogramming
(1:12:52) – Dynamic typing
(1:20:10) – Scaling
(1:33:03) – Future of programming
(1:50:34) – Future of AI
(1:56:29) – Vibe coding
(2:05:01) – Rails manifesto: Principles of a great programming language
(2:29:27) – Why managers are useless
(2:38:48) – Small teams
(2:44:55) – Jeff Bezos
(3:00:13) – Why meetings are toxic
(3:07:58) – Case against retirement
(3:15:15) – Hard work
(3:20:53) – Why we left the cloud
(3:24:04) – AWS
(3:33:22) – Owning your own servers
(3:39:35) – Elon Musk
(3:49:17) – Apple
(4:01:03) – Tim Sweeney
(4:12:37) – Fatherhood
(4:38:19) – Racing
(5:05:23) – Cars
(5:10:41) – Programming setup
(5:25:51) – Programming language for beginners
(5:39:09) – Open source
(5:48:01) – WordPress drama
(5:59:18) – Money and happiness
(6:08:11) – Hope